Beneath the Tree of Voices
by Forest of Zen
Summary: After the ceremony, Jake and Neytiri meet under the Tree of Voices. My perspective on the scene from the movie.


"And you may choose a woman."

The words hung among the Tree of Voices' shimmering purplish strands, brave coming from Neytiri's mouth. She turned away from Jake, trying to focus on something, anything else--like the tree seed that drifted down to hover just above the palms of her hands. But her eyes were glazed, and her voice was soft. The slight motion of her ears gave away the turmoil she felt, even as she desperately tried to give Jake every other option.

"We have many fine women."

The seed bobbed slowly above her hand, glowing gently against the background of the darkened forest. Neytiri tensed, breathed slowly, and spoke again, leaning her head back to glance at Jake out of the corner of her eye.

"Ninat is the best singer."

Jake hung in the background, white swirls of ceremonial paint washed off after the ceremony, revealing the darker stripes of blue that curled around his sides to his midsection. He breathed slowly, mind locked in thought. He hadn't thought of this moment much, what with flying and learning the language and generally being on the edge of death... at least, in his avatar world. He'd met Ninat, though. He had an answer to this question, at least.

"Well I don't want Ninat."

Neytiri smiled quickly, half in nervousness and half in joy. She breathed in and blew the seed from her palms and into the air, letting it float free as it had been before. The tiny white glow was soon lost in the thicket of glowing vines. She leaned back to glance at Jake again, still conflicted, still tense.

"Beyral is... a good hunter."

She smiled nervously as she looked at him, but found she couldn't look away. He looked serious... solemn, even, as if what she were saying was a decision that would affect him for the rest of his years. _And I suppose it will,_ she thought. _Although it might not affect me._ It was a false hope, she knew. This dreamwalker had made it further into her heart than any other male of the Omaticaya had in all of her years--further even than the one who was supposed to have been her mate.

_The one who _will be_ my mate,_ she corrected silently. Jake shifted slightly behind her.

"Yeah, she is a good hunter."

Neytiri turned to him, trying to keep her face blank, but looking exactly as she felt--desperate. Exposed. Jake almost broke everything to her at that instant, but his stoic expression never shifted. _Too important to screw up,_ he thought. _One chance._

"I've already chosen."

His words were soft. To Neytiri they felt like fire. Like the lightning that set the treetops alight in summer. She looked at him, and then she really saw him--saw the emotions locked behind the face that he wore, the thoughts that raced behind his gleaming eyes. Suddenly the world made sense. It was as if she had been riding an Ikran upside down this whole time, and had finally turned to see the world upright.

The realization spread through her face. Her eyes flared open for a long moment, but she knew he wasn't finished. The heart in her chest felt like it would die long before the answer came, but she waited.

"But this woman must also choose me."

His eyes were focused on her with an intensity she hadn't seen, even when he had first hunted with her--even when he had climbed Iknimaya, the Path to Heaven, and first ridden an Ikran. A thrill shot through her--it was the feeling of her first hunt, first flight, and her acceptance into the People, all in one instant. Her smile started small and then curved wide, and her eyes gleamed brightly with the reflected light all around her. Then it was her turn. The words came out without thought, without any consideration for the other ties that bound her. She would break all her bonds, just for this. Just for him.

"She already has."

They stood that way for a moment, frozen in the impossibility of it. Jake put a hand up to Neytiri's cheek, leaned forward, and with only a breath between them now their lips met. It was soft, the contact barely more than a brush, both mouths parched from the tension of the moments before. But for them it felt like something more than lightning, like a sun had grown inside of them both and was searing their bodies away with its heat. Or like they had grown the wings of the Toruk and leapt from Iknimaya, able to soar over all that they saw with the ease of the one that ruled the skies. A moment's pause and then another kiss, just as potent, both their eyes closed with light dancing behind their lids.

Jake was almost urgent, arm pressing against her back, pressing her against him, kisses deeper, more intense. Neytiri brushed his cheek and responded in kind, lips brushing his, then his cheek, then finding his neck as he slipped his other arm around her and lifted her off the ground.

Her braid was suddenly hanging in front of her, slipped there by Jake's insistent arm. Fiber strands unfurled and twisted together, and suddenly there was true light, the years of their lives and purity of their senses united in a single instant through Tsahaylu. Flickers of scents, sounds, sights, all blended into a few moments between them, and both were silent and still, mouths slightly open, feeling and seeing as one as both their eyes flickered to take in each other. Unspoken between them was _I see you._

Neytiri sighed against Jake's shoulder, her hand feeling for two as it trailed up his back. Jake sank slowly back onto his knees, and the cloth between Neytiri's legs shifted as they came together, and then there was more, not just connection but _pleasure,_ both filled and filling as both sank to kneel on the glowing leaves of the forest floor. He moved as she did, and they held together for long minutes, savoring the intensity, clinging to it like water to the underside of a leaf.

He moved faster and she felt it, inside like fire, pressure and fullness and friction that made her curl down and clutch at his back like a child. She tensed and he felt it, tightness and warmth around him that made him shudder and arch, close to whatever end would come.

And then suddenly the world vanished and all that was left was bliss and ecstasy, a place where no other words applied and both were lost in the starry-eyed pleasure of final release. Their thoughts echoed each other inside their skulls, and they leaned together, supporting one another, until finally they fell against the grass and leaves and willingly fell into sleep.

But before Neytiri let her eyes close completely, she spoke.

"I am with you now, Jake."

She smiled, a hand coming up to brush his cheek, even though she knew he was asleep.

"We are mated for life."

_Fin_


End file.
